Ch.348[Episode 348] Event: Race

Sir Dominic arrived at the locomotive depot where test runs were in full swing.

There were truly all kinds of locomotives there, each showing off their own interesting personalities.

“There it is. Our locomotive.”

Unryu Hime pointed to a spot, seemingly having found the Matsuri.

There was the Matsuri with its impressive red Tengu face, along with ninjas maintaining it.

“Ah, Lady Hime. You’ve arrived?”

A ninja with black oil smeared all over his face and hands greeted Hime as he put down his kunai-shaped screwdriver.

“Are you here for a test run?”

“Yes. I need to check today’s condition first.”

“Then you’ve come at the right time. We just finished oiling all the equipment.”

After saying this, the maintenance ninja threw a smoke bomb and switched places with a wrench that was placed on top of the locomotive.

It was very ninja-like, but somehow also seemed inefficient.

“Hey! Lady Hime is doing a test run!”

“Okay!”

The maintenance ninja informed the other maintenance ninjas that a test run would soon take place.

Then he turned into smoke again and switched places with the calipers next to Sir Dominic.

“The spider tank is also prepared in top condition. Would you like to take it for a test drive, Sir Dominic?”

“Ah, I will.”

Sir Dominic nodded at the words of the maintenance ninja who was moving around chaotically.

He had been thinking about making final adjustments when they said they would do a test run.

With Sir Dominic’s words, a spider tank walked out from the maintenance shed.

Another maintenance ninja was on top of it, who parked the spider tank in front of Sir Dominic and immediately handed him the keys.

“Here you are, Sir Dominic.”

“Thank you.”

Sir Dominic climbed up the ladder on the side of the spider tank to get on top.

And when Sir Dominic restarted the spider tank, the locomotive was already prepared on the test track.

Hime was in the engine room, and Koume was standing on the platform holding the shuriken cannon.

“Are you ready?”

Hime asked Sir Dominic.

She was planning to start the test run as soon as Sir Dominic was ready.

“I am.”

Sir Dominic tapped the ground a couple of times with the front leg of the spider tank to signal that he was ready.

“Good. The team ahead of us is currently on a test run, so we’ll depart in 2 minutes.”

“Understood.”

Hime gauged the distance with the teams ahead of them on the test run, then notified Sir Dominic that they would depart in 2 minutes.

Sir Dominic replied that he understood and drove the spider tank to stand alongside the Matsuri.

That’s when it happened.

“Oh? We meet again here, sister?”

“Sir Dominic?”

Another locomotive pulled up on the track next to the Matsuri.

This locomotive had a white female mask from Japanese Noh theater attached to the front, and it had an abundance of flags mounted on top.

And among those flags was a massive cannon, which seemed to be carried in a cargo car dedicated to the cannon.

“Tsuki?”

“Sir Dominica?”

Sir Dominic and Hime looked at the people aboard the locomotive that had approached right next to them.

There were Hime’s sister Tsuki and Sir Dominica.

Tsuki was in the engine room, Sir Dominica was riding a spider tank like Sir Dominic, and at the cannon was a samurai wearing quite elaborate armor, though not as flashy as Unryu Musashi, the head of the Unryu family.

“My goodness. This is quite an interesting coincidence.”

Sir Dominica spoke as if surprised.

“Indeed it is.”

Sir Dominic looked at Sir Dominica with surprised eyes.

Of course, the reasons for Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica’s surprise were different.

For Sir Dominic, it was the surprisingly similar composition and appearance of the two teams, while for Sir Dominica, it was not expecting to be doing a test run at the same time, and right next to each other.

Sir Dominic continued to stare intently at Sir Dominica.

It was because he felt that it would be quite a difficult race as soon as he saw Sir Dominica.

This was the same for Sir Dominica.

Being well aware of Sir Dominic’s combat prowess and driving skills, Sir Dominica couldn’t help but be wary.

However, regardless of what they thought inside, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica exchanged pleasantries with smiles on their faces.

“I hope it will be a good race.”

“That’s my line. Let’s at least not be underhanded with each other.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica said this and then returned to their positions.

Then they looked only in the direction of the test run, never looking at each other again.

This might have been a battle of pride.

While Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were showing their fighting spirit like this, Hime and Tsuki were also sharply checking each other.

“Yukionna, huh? You seem to have put in quite some effort?”

“What about you, sister? The Matsuri? How did you hide that fact from me until now?”

Sparks flew as Hime and Tsuki’s gazes clashed in midair.

“But I’m not worried. The Matsuri will be shattered before the mighty firepower of the Yukionna.”

“That’s only if you can hit us. Right?”

Hime and Tsuki confronted each other very sharply.

Although the two had become sisters, the old grudges still remained.

Even now, when they could be said to have become quite close, they still fought life-and-death battles once a day, so this acute confrontation was only natural.

“…Let’s see in the real race. How our cannon will smash the Matsuri to pieces.”

“That’s my line. Before you can fire a single shot, we’ll be far ahead!”

Hime and Tsuki’s argument continued, but soon subsided due to the words of a guide.

“If you don’t depart now, you’ll miss your test run opportunity! If you want to fight, please finish and fight later!”

Hime and Tsuki flinched at the shout of the guide wearing station staff uniform.

“It seems we don’t have time to fight anymore.”

“See you in the real game, sister.”

Hime and Tsuki each left a parting remark and started their locomotives.

Then they began to move forward silently.

Watching this, Koume and the samurai in elaborate armor sighed simultaneously without prompting, then noticed each other and looked at one another.

“You have it tough.”

“You too.”

They bowed their heads to each other as if understanding each other’s hardships.

And as the locomotives slowly began to move forward, they both grabbed their weapons again and looked in the direction their weapons were pointing.

The samurai to the front, Koume to the rear.

…

Sir Dominic controlled the spider tank following the slowly moving locomotive.

At first, it moved slowly and creakily as if the steam hadn’t fully built up yet, but with the immense power of steam from the dozen or so cylinders found only in racing spider tanks, the speed increased terrifyingly fast.

The Matsuri was among the top tier in speed among all locomotives.

This meant that although they started almost simultaneously, a gap soon began to form between the two locomotives.

However, Tsuki, the captain of the Yukionna, maintained her composure as if this situation was expected.

From the beginning, the Yukionna’s strategy was not to run quickly, but to slowly eliminate rivals one by one, even if it meant being slower.

Wasn’t that why they brought such a huge cannon, sacrificing speed?

“But now is not the time.”

Tsuki desperately wanted to use that cannon right now, but they were currently on a test run.

Using it now could unnecessarily raise alarms around them, and above all, they would have to maintain it again.

That’s how powerful the cannon behind her was.

“The real race. When the real race begins, that’s when we start.”

Tsuki said this as she grabbed the edge of her helmet and pulled it down firmly.

As if she would no longer pay attention to Hime’s Matsuri.

…

Interestingly, this was the same for Hime.

“Aren’t we a bit slower than usual?”

Sir Dominic conveyed his question to Hime through the radio.

Indeed, Hime was operating the locomotive a bit slower than during their usual practice.

“It’s all part of the strategy, Sir Dominic.”

“What do you mean… Ah. I see.”

Sir Dominic didn’t understand Hime’s words at first, but when Hime pointed around them, he finally understood what she meant.

He spotted dozens of people around the test run area, staring intently at the Matsuri.

They were probably informants from other teams, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the Matsuri to report back to their respective teams.

“So it’s better to hide some of our power for now.”

Hime was currently showing only about 70% of her real ability, conscious of the eyes around them.

She needed to hide the remaining 30% to secure an advantageous position in the real race.

This was the same for all other teams.

What each team was hiding differed, but everyone was concealing a dagger behind their back for the upcoming real race.

The moment you carelessly reveal everything, you get devoured!

Right now, this vehicle depot was a den of demons where all teams had their own ulterior motives.